Hauschka: 'I'm so excited to be back' with Seahawks

A fun fact about Steven Hauschka is that he comes from a family of dentists and once figured that would be his eventual profession.

Hauschka

That, of course, was before he became one of the NFL's most reliable kickers during a two-year stretch that culminated in Hauschka receiving a multi-year contract from the Seahawks that makes him one of the higher-paid players at his position.

So much for dentistry.

"Yeah, that's on the backburner forever now I think," Hauschka said Monday after signing a three-year deal with Seattle.

Hauschka, one of the Seahawks' unrestricted free agents, said there were "a couple" other teams interested in his services, which is understandable given the accuracy he's shown the past two seasons and the increased leg strength he displayed in 2013. Hauschka connected on 57 of 62 field-goal attempts the last two seasons – with two of those misses resulting from blocked kicks – and in 2013 he increased his touchback rate by nearly 10 percent from 2012.

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While there was interest elsewhere, Hauschka signed a deal with Seattle that is reportedly worth $9.15 million and includes $3.35 million guaranteed. The annual average, according to the website Spotrac.com, ranks 11th among NFL kickers.

"It was definitely flattering to hear the teams that were interested," he told "Wyman, Mike and Moore" on 710 ESPN Seattle. "There were definitely some teams that I thought were going to make a push for me but ended up re-signing their own kickers. But in the end I wanted to be back in Seattle and if you had told me this before free agency that I'd be back with Seattle, I would have been so pumped up.

"I'm so excited to back, and what a great team and organization to play for."